Strand rewinding apparatus



April 22, 1958 w. BERTHOLD 2,831,309

STRAND REWINDING APPARATUS Filed June 26, 1956 I8 /9 wvs/vmp a W BERTHOLD Unite STRAND REWINDING APPARATUS Application June 26, 1956, Serial No. 593,856

9 Claims. (Cl. 57-60) This invention relates to strand rewinding apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for unwinding a strand from one reel and winding it upon another;

In certain instances, it is desirable to remove predetermined or entire lengths of strands from supply reels and transfer them to takeup reels. This may be done Within strand processing machines or in preparation for use in such machines wherein, insulating, covering, twisting or stranding operations are performed. Heretofore, this has been accomplished by rotating not only the supply but the takeup reels wherein the inertia of each rotating reel and the constant variation in the speed of rotation required for either or both reels present disturbing effects which must be kept under control to eliminate breaking or the application of excess tension on the strand.

The object of the present invention is an apparatus which is highly efficient in removing a strand from a stationary supply reel and Winding the strand on a stationary takeup reel free of twist in the strand.

In one embodiment of the invention, a fiyer for the takeup reel is driven to wind the strand on the reel and to draw the strand through another fiyer adjacent the supply reel causing rotation of the second fiyer while a third fiyer is utilized to compensate for the differences in twist formed in the strand by the first two flyers.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the first and second fiyers, associated directly with the takeup and supply reels, are geared together, the connection with the second fiyer being through a differential, the arm of which supports a third fiyer interposed between the first and second fiyers. The first and second flyers are halfflyers rotating in the opposite directions to introduce single opposing twists in the strand for each revolution of the half-flyers. The full-fiyer, rotating in the same direction as the unwinding half-dyer, will introduce two twists in the strand for each revolution. The speed of rotation of the unwinding half-fiyer will vary from the constant speed of the winding half-fiyer until the diameters of the strand material on the reels are equal, at which time, the winding half-fiyer will remove .all twists placed in the strand by the unwinding fiyer. At this time, the fullflyer interposed between the winding and unwinding halfflyers will remain idle causing no twists to be formed in or removed from the strand thereby. However, at other times during the building up of the strand material on the takeup reel to a balance with a diminishing diameter of the supply reel and during the continued building up of the diameter of the strand material on the takeup reel from the central balancing position, the full-fiyer will rotate with the arm of the differential to cooperate with the unwinding half-fiyer to jointly form the same number of twists in the strand that will be removed from the strand by the winding fiyer.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which is a 2,831,399 Patented Apr. 22, 1958 front elevational view of the apparatus portions thereof being shown in section.

In this apparatus there'is a stationary support 10 for a supply reel 11 of strand 12. A reciprocable nonrotatable support 14 for a takeup reel 15 is provided with suitable means including, for example, an air cylinder 16 with its piston 17 having its rod 18 connected to and carrying the support 14. Through suitable means (not shown) air under pressure may be supplied alternately to lines 19 and 20 to cause reciprocation of the support 14 Ma given speed between limits to effect distribution of the strand 12 on the reel 15. The leading end of the strand, after having been threaded through an unwinding half-fiyer 23, an auxiliary full-fiyer 24 and a winding half-fiyer 25, is secured in any suitable manner to the takeup reel 15 so that during rotation of the fiyer 25 the strand will be wound upon the stationary takeup reel. The half-fiyer 25 is journalled in suitable bearings 27 and has a gear 28 mounted thereon. The power means for the winding fiyer 25 may be of any desired type or structure such as a motor 30 and speed control unit 31. The output or drive shaft 32 of the unit 31 is journalled in suitable bearings 33 and has a lower gear 34 and an upper gear 35 mounted thereon. An intermediate gear 36, having its supporting spindle 37 journalled in suitable bearings 38 interengages the gears 28 and 34 to complete the drive for the first or winding half-fiyer 25.

The unwinding half-fiyer 23 is fixed to and rotatably supports an output gear 46 of a differential indicated generally at 41. An input gear 42 of the differential 41 is mounted upon aspindle 43 which is journalled in suitable bearings 44 in a stationary main frame 45. An

intermediate bevelled gear 46, connecting the bottom and top bevelled gears 49 and 42 of the diiferential, is mounted upon its spindle 47 in suitable bearings housed in the arm 48 of the differential. In reality the arm 48 is operatively connected to the gears and 42 by the gear 46. A gear 50 equal in size to the gear 28 is mounted on the spindle 43 and operatively connected to the gear 35 through an intermediate gear 51. The gear 51 is mounted on a spindle 52 supported in suitable bearings 53. The upper end of the full-fiyer 24 extends into the arm 48 of the differential where it is supported and has its entrance end disposed co-axially of the differential and in alignment with the exit end of the half-fiyer 23. The exit end of the full-fiyer 24 is supported for rotation adjacent the entrance end of the first fiyer 25 and in axial alignment with both half-fiyers. If desired, the stationary support it) and thebearing support for the exit end of the auxiliary fiyer 24 may be parts of a planetary gearing as shown in co-pe'nding application, Serial No. 593,977, filed June 26, 1956.

Before considering the operation of the apparatus it should be understood that strands advancing through rotating fiyers are thereby twisted in several ways.

When a strand is unwound from a stationary, supply reel by means of a half-fiyer one twist is formed in thestrand for each revolution of the half-fiyer. The strand must be advanced by external means and the advancement of the strand will set the fiyer in rotation. The direction of rotation is determined entirely bythe direction in which the strand appears to be wound on the supply reel, and the apparent direction of the strand on the reel and thereby the direction of rotation of theum winding half-flyer can be reversed by turning the reel upside down One counterclockwise revolution of the unwinding half-fiyer forms one left hand twistin the strand; one clockwise revolution-of the unwinding halffiyer forms one right hand twist in the stand. P I

When a strand is wound on a stationary takeupreel by means of a half-dyer one twist is formed in the strand for each revolution of the half-dyer. The flyer must be set in rotation by external means and the rotation of the flyer will advance the strand and wind it onto the reel. The leading end of the strand must be secured to the reel. The direction of rotation is determined by the external driving means. One counterclockwise revolution of the winding half-flyer forms one left hand twist in the strand; one clockwise revolution of the winding one-half fiyer forms one right hand twist in the strand.

When-a strand is advanced through a full-dyer from and entrance end to the exit end two twists are formed therein for each revolution of the fullflyer. The flyer must be set in motion by external means. The direction of rotation is determined by the external driving-means. The strand must also be advanced by external means. One counterclockwise revolution of the full-flyer forms two right hand twists in the strand; one clockwise revolution of the full-fiyer forms two left hand twists in the strand.

It can be seen from the above statements that a strand which advances through an unwinding half-flyer and a full-flyer or through a full-fiyer and a wind-ing half-dyer will be free of twists provided that in each case the fullilyer makes half a revolution for each full revolution of the half-fiver and provided further that the direction of the half-revolution of the full-fiyer is the same as that of the full-revolution of the half-flyer.

This follows from the fact that full-flyers rotating in the same direction as half-fiyers form twists in the twist direction or lay opposite to that formed by half-fiyers and that full-flyers form one twist for half a revolution while half-fiyers form one twist for one full revolution.

Furthermore it should be understood that the free floating arm of a differential will revolve at the average of the speeds of the externally rotated input gear and the externally rotated output gear. This relationship can also be expressed by the statement that the arm will make a half a revolution for each revolution of the input gear and a half a revolution for each revolution of the output gear. The direction of rotation of the half-revolution of the arm is the same as that of the controlling input or output gear respectively.

Considering now the operation of the apparatus, let it be assumed that the strand 12 is threaded through flyers 23,24, and with the leading end of the strand secured to the empty takeup reel 15. With the driving means 31i energized and the control means for the air cylinder 16 in operation, it will be apparent that the rotation of fiyer 25 will advance the strand 12 and wind it on takeup reel 15. The advancement of the strand will set flyer 12 in motion, its direction of rotation depending on the winding of the strand on reel 11.

The full-fiyer 24 fixedly attached to the free floating arm 48 of differential 41, will make half a revolution for each revolution of the half-flyer 23, fixedly attached to the output gear of difierential 41, and half a revolution for each revolution of the half-fiyer 25 which through its attachment to gear 28 and through the spur gear train 2S-363435-5150 causes the input gear 42 of difierential 41 to rotate at the same speed and in the same direction.

The half-revolution which the full-flyer 24 makes for each revolution of the half-flyer 23 will form one twist opposite to that formed in the strand by one revolution of fiyer 23 and the half-revolution which the full-fiyer 24 makes for each revolution of the half-flyer 25 will form one twist opposite to that formed in the strand by one revolution of fiyer 25. It follows therefore that the apparatus will wind strand 12 from stationary supply reel 11 to the non-rotating takeup reel 15 free of twists therein, regardless of the direction in which the strand is wound on either the supply reel or the takeup reel and regardless of the relatve size orfullness of the reels.

Therefore, it is possible to eliminate driving means for supply and takeup reels for unreeling and reeling means where it is desirable to rewind the strand free of twists therein. If desired, the strand may be processed between the unwinding and winding portions of the apparatus.

Assume for example that the supply reel is positioned to unwind so as to cause the half-fiyer 23 to rotate in the same direction as the half-flyer 25. With constant speed drive of half-fiyer 25 its rotary speed will be constant. Also the speed and direction of rotation of gear 42 will he the same as the half-flyer 25. The speed of the halfflyer 23 will (for the purpose of illustration) be about half the speed of the half-flyer 25 at the start as one turn of the strand removed from reel 11 will equal about two turns on reel 15. As the diameters of the central portions of the reels vary, the speed of the half-flyer 23 varies, increasing until the last layer of strand on the reel 11 when it is moving at its maximum speed. During this entire action the gears 40 and 42 rotate in one direction with their respective half-flyers 23 and 25, placing like directional single twists in the strand. Half the dilference of the rotary speeds of the gears 4042 are translated through the gear 46 to the arm 48. Therefore, the arm 48, with the full-flyer 24, will rotate in the same direction and at half the average speed of the half-fiyers to place two twists in the strand in the directions reverse the single twists formed by each half-fiyer 2325.

If, however, the position of the supply reel 11 is reversed causing the half-flyer 23 to rotate in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of the takeup halffiyer 25, the full-flyer 24 will rotate first in one direction, remain against rotation and then rotate in the opposite direction. At the beginning, with the reel 11 full and the reel 15 empty, the half-fiyer 23 will rotate (for example) one revolution for two revolutions of half-fiyer 25, resulting in one twist in one direction and two in the opposite direction leaving one of the twists from halfflyer 25 in the strand. Without the full-flyer 24 and the differential connection thereof with the half-flyers 23 and 25 this varied arrangement of twists would be formed in the strand However, with the gear 42 rotating in the same direction and at the same speed as the half flyer 25, and the gear 49 rotating in a reverse direction and at the speed of the half-fiyer 23, the gear 46 will translate half the difference of the gears 40 and 42 to the arm 48. The arm 48 will be moved in the direction'of the fastest moving half-dyer and at half the differences of the speeds of the half-flyers to remove (for example) that one'extra twist. In this manner, under the control of the connecting difiierential for the half-fiyers 23 and 25, the full-flyer 24 will move in the direction of the fastest moving halffiyer (initially 25) and at half the differences in speed to remove the extra twists placed in the strand by the fastest fiyer. There is an interval when both reels 11 and 15 have the same central diameters and the speeds of the half-flyers 23 and 25, in the reverse directions, are the same. During this interval the arm 48 and the full-flyer 24 will remain stationary and the half-flyer 25 will remove the twists formed by the half-fiyer 23. Going beyond this central position, with the diameter of the reel 15 growing larger and the diameter of the reel 11 becoming smaller the half-fiyer 23 will rotate in its direction faster than the half-flyer 25. The gear 46, translating half the differences of the speeds of the fastest gear 40 to the arm will cause the full-flyer 24 to rotate in a reverse direction, now following the half flyer 23, to add twists to the strand which will cancel the extra twists formed by the faster moving flyer 23.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention-and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for unwinding a strand from a nonrotating supply reel and winding the strand free of twist on a non-rotating takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding fiyer disposed adjacent the supply reel, a rotatable winding fiyer disposed adjacent the takeup reel, means to drive the winding fiyer at a constant speed to cause it to wind the strand on the takeup reel and thereby pull the strand from the supply reel through the flyers and cause the unwinding fiyer to rotate at a variable speed as a result of varied lengths of turns of the strand removed from the supply to place variedly spaced like directional twists in the strand with respect to the direction of twists formed in the strand by the winding fiyer, and means cooperating with the unwinding fiyer to cause the reverse directional twists formed in the strand prior to reaching the winding fiyer to balance the twists formed by both flyers, whereby the strand will be wound on the takeup reel free of twist.

2. An apparatus for unwinding a strand from a stationary supply reel and winding the strand free of twist on a non-rotatable takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding fiyer introducing twists in the strand while it is being removed from the supply reel, a winding fiyer introducing twists in the strand while it is being wound on the takeup reel and means responsive to the flyers to remove from the strand the twists introduced by both the unwinding flyer and the winding fiyer.

3. An apparatus for unwinding a strand from a stationary supply reel and winding the strand free of twist on a non-rotatable takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding fiyer introducing twists in the strand while it is being removed from the supply reel, a winding fiyer introducing twists in the strand while it is being wound on the takeup reel, means responsive to the flyers to'remove from the strand the twists introduced by both the unwinding fiyer and the winding fiyer, and means to cause reciprocation of the takeup reel relative to the winding fiyer to cause distribution of the strand on the takeup reel.

4. An apparatus for unwinding a strand from a nonrotating supply reel and winding the strand free of twist on a non-rotating takeup reel comprising a rotatable winding fiyer driven adjacent the takeup reel tending to form twists in one direction in the strand pulled from the supply reel while being wound thereby on the takeup reel, a rotatable unwinding fiyer for the strand disposed adjacent the supply reel and forming variedly spaced like direction twists in the strand with varied lengths of turns removed from the supply reel, and an auxiliary flyer for the strand actuable in cooperation with the winding and.

unwinding flyers, to form reverse direction twists equal in number to the combined twists formed by the winding and unwinding flyers whereby the strand will be wound on the takeup reel free of twist.

5. An appaartus for unwinding a strand from a nonrotating supply reel and winding the strand free of twist on a non-rotating takeup reel comprising a rotatable winding fiyer driven adjacent the takeup reel forming a twist in the strand pulled from the supply reel while winding each turn of the strand on the takeup reel, a rotatable unwinding fiyer for the strand disposed adjacent the supply reel and forming variedly spaced twists in the strand with varied lengths of turns removed from the supply reel, an auxiliary fiyer for the strand actuable in cooperation with the other flyers to remove from the strand the twists formed by the winding and unwinding flyers whereby the strand will be wound on the takeup reel free of twist, power means, means operatively connecting the power means to the winding fiyer to cause driving of the winding fiyer at a given speed, and means driven by the power means and under the control of the unwinding fiyer to cause actuation of the auxiliary fiyer.

6, An apparatus for unwinding a strand from a non- Y 6 rotating supply reel and winding the strand free of twist on a non-rotating takeup reel comprising a rotatable winding fiyer driven adjacent the takeup reel tending to form twists in the strand pulled from the supply reel while being wound thereby on the takeup reel, a rotatable unwinding fiyer for the strand disposed adjacent the supply reel and forming variedly spaced twists in the strand with varied lengths of turns removed from the supply reel, an auxiliary fiyer for the strand actuable in cooperation with the other flyers to remove from the strand the twists formed by the winding and unwinding flyers whereby the strand will be wound on the takeup reel free of twist, power means, means operatively connecting the power means to the winding fiyerto cause driving of the winding fiyer at a given speed, a difierential having an input gear driven by the power means, an output gear fixed to the unwinding fiyer, an intermediate gear connecting the input and output gears, and an arm supporting the auxiliary fiyer and under the control of the intermediate gear to cause rotation of the auxiliary.

7. An apparatus for unwinding a strand from a nonrotating supply reel and winding the strand free of twist on a non-rotating takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding flyer disposed adjacent the supply reel, a rotatable winding fiyer disposed adjacent the takeup reel, means to drive the winding flyer to cause it to Wind the strand on the takeup reel and thereby pull the strand from the supply reel through the flyers and cause the unwinding fiyer to rotate at a variable speed as a result of varied lengths of turns of the strand removed from the supply to place variedly spaced twists in the strand with the twists formed in the strand by the winding fiyer and an auxiliary flyer cooperating with the winding and unwinding fiyers to form twists in the strand which will remove the twists formed in the strand by the winding and unwinding flyers to cause winding of the strand on the takeup reel free of twists.

8. An apparatus for unwinding a strand from a nonrotating supply reel and winding the strand free of twist on a non-rotating takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding flyer disposed adjacent the supply reel, a rotatable winding flyer disposed adjacent the takeup reel, means to drive the winding fiyer to cause it to wind the strand on the takeup reel and thereby pull the strand from the supply reel through the flyers and cause the unwinding fiyer to rotate at a variable speed as a result of varied lengths of turns of the strand removed from the supply to place variedly spaced twists in the strand with the twists formed in the strand by the winding fiyer, and an auxiliary fiyer cooperating with the winding and unwinding flyers to form twists in the strand which will remove the twists formed in the strand by the winding and unwinding flyers to cause winding of the strand on the takeup reel free of twists, and means to cause reciprocation of the takeup reel relative to the winding flyer to cause distribution of the strand on the takeup reel.

9. An apparatus for unwinding a strand from a nonrotating supply reel and winding the strand free of twist on a non-rotating takeup reel comprising a rotatable unwinding flyer disposed adjacent the supply reel, a rotatable winding fiyer disposed adjacent the takeup reel, means to drive the Winding fiyer at a constant speed to cause it to wind the strand on the takeup reel and thereby pull the strand from the supply reel through the flyers and cause the unwinding fiyer to rotate at a variable speed as a result of varied lengths of turns of the strand removed from the supply to place variedly spaced reverse directional twists in the strand with respect to the direction of twists formed in the strand by the winding fiyer, a differential having an input gear driven at a constant speed by the drive means, an output gear fixed to and rotatable by the unwinding fiyer, and an arm rotatable relative to an idle position by an intermediate gear connecting the input and output gears, and an auxiliary fiyer for the strand inten aesmp pgsed between the other flyers and fixedly carried by the errnto add reverse direetional twists to'and remove reverse directional twists from the strand with respect to the original reverse directional twists formed in the strand by the unwinding flyers to balance the twists tended to be formed in the strand by the winding flyer, whereby the strand will be wound on the takeup reel free of twist.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Marchev Nov. 6, 1928 Weaver Nov. 23, 1937 Nelson Nov. 5, 1946 Green Mar. 22, 1949 

